BootsnAll Travel Community

SO. I am planning a trip to central america in roughly one year. I am hopefully going to be traveling for 6 months. I am a backpacker who likes to do things cheap. how much money do i need? any destination suggestions are always appreciated. happy travels.

Each country's budget will be a little bit different. Skip Costa Rica because it'll eat a lot of your money. It was way more expensive than I thought it would be.

6 months, that's super!

When you pass through El Salvador, you can visit:

1)The beaches: Barra de Santiago, El Zonte, Sunzal, El Tunco, Atami, San Blas, Punta Roca, Las Hojas, Costa del Sol, Corral de Mulas, El Espino, Las Flores, El Cuco, Playas Negras, El Tamarindo, Golfo de Fonseca, etc. etc. etc. If you surf, world class right handed point breaks.

2) The quaint little towns in the coffee growing region,
at Ruta de las Flores: Ataco, Apaneca, Juayua, Salcoatitan.
Zip lining, coffee museum, waterfalls.

3) The volcanoes: Cerro Verde overlooking Izalco Volcano
and Santa Ana (Ilamatepec) volcano.

4) Volcanic lakes or even man made: Coatepeque, Ilopango,
Suchitlan.

5) Archeological sites at Tazumal, Casa Blanca, San Andres
and Joya del Ceren. The archeological museum David J. Guzman
in San Salvador.

6) The quaint little towns and mountain retreats at:
La Palma, San Ignacio and El Pital.

7) Colonial Suchitoto and Suchitlans Lake

8) The former guerilla stronghold at Perquin,
and its small Revolution Museum.

9) The Imposible natural preserve, which can be
visited from the north (Tacuba town)
or from the south (near Barra de Santiago).

10) The night life in San Salvador.
Also, shopping for the so inclined (not your case here)

11) The warm welcoming people

Heck, you could be here from two weeks
to a month chilling out!
(apart from some ex-pats,
who simply stayed forever!)

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El Salvador is a bit on the expensive side,
and uses the american dolar ($),
but bit by bit it is catering more and more
to the backpacking crowd.

It is also the land of the day trip,
as it it small (20,000 square kms, about 500 kms wide
and 200 kms tall) and with good infrastructure.
Yesterday I went with a slovene couple to see a volcano,
amidst pine trees and cool climate...
(we had bad luck because it was cloudy and raining)
and then went to the coast to eat seafood,
and then back to Juayua at Ruta de las Flores...

Your budget will stretch the best in Honduras, Nicaragua, and Guatemala, with Costa Rica being the dearest and Belize and Mexico next. For Mexico, avoid the package tourist resorts or you'll really have to pay up.

Overall, you could probably get by on $700 to $1K per month if you were careful and stayed put for a while here and there, but take more if you can to take advantage of all the great adventure activity possiblities. Long bus rides in Mexico and Costa Rica will eat up the budget if you're on the move a lot.

I don't normally like to so blatantly plug my own books, but this one is truly the best one you could buy for planning purposes:
Traveler's Tool Kit: Mexico and Central America

Bloody brilliant to hear the 1K a month pricing. I could stay there for soooo long. I hope I love it. I'm not so sure about the weather and mosquitoes.

I agree skip costa rica. It will eat up money fast

It is possible to travel cheaply in Costa Rica, but you need to do more planning here. The huge number of activities they have for visitors (skydiving, rafting, canopy tours, surf lessons) is what will really kill your budget. I find Belize to be the worst value in the area. Bus travel in Mexico can be a hit too, with the long distances. It's over $100 US one-way from Mexico City to the Guatema border or Cancun.

Guatemala and Nicaragua are the cheapest countries in the region. Honduras is cheap too. El salvador and Panama are on the USD, inflating prices a bit. Mexico can be done cheaply if you limit bus travel and like Mexican food (who doesn't). Costa Rica has expensive temptations and accommodation, while Belize is expensive for what you get.

If you're a bit careful, you'll average less than a thousand US per month.